to pass? and on that one i think enough years have passed we're sort of in a speeded up world, after all, that i think it is okay to be telling some of those stories. i think the issue here is not what stories he's telling -- piers morgan tonight starts right now. piers morgan tonight starts -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com tonight one of the most powerful women in the world, arianna huffington. on politics, the economy and keeping america great. >> we have a major crisis in this country. a growth crisis. which means that jobs crisis and a debt crisis. >> and wisconsin governor scott

walker, his showdown with union workers. his take on the gop field. >> if they were both on the particular, it would be spectacular. they could focus on the economy. >> and the former scout's love for his hog. this is "piers morgan tonight." when arianna huffington talks, people tend to listen. she's number 31 of forbes's list. she is the author of third world america, how our politicians are abandoning the middle class and betraying the american dream. and arianna joins me now. knowing you, i would imagine you're a bit fed one only being 31 on this list. >> i think it is a great list. and i'm very happy with my placement, piers. >> but quietly you're thinking, hang original i should be at least in the 20s here, aren't you?

>> no, no. would you ever be thinking that if you were in any number on that list? would it matter? >> yes. well -- i would be a bit concerned if i'll on the most 100 most powerful women list. but on any list, i think it doesn't mat here you are. you can be bill gates. if you're second to warren buffett, you're really annoyed, aren't you? >> no. that's terrible to think that way. >> this book of yours, which is a fascinating read. it come at a very timely period in american life. i love this quote from you about the american dream. the core idea of the american dream, work hard and advance up the ladder, has been gutted. now the american dream is to try to not fall or to do all you can to slow your rate of decline. a pretty devastating indictment of this great country. i would go along with it to a point but still i think an entrepreneurial zeal is just, it feels very depressed at the moment to me. >> i would say there are still

many entrepreneurs doing great things. the point i'm making is that the essence of the american dream. as an immigrant, i've experienced it. that you can work hard and create a better life for yourself and your family has now really become a game of chance. and the statistics prove it. we are number ten in upward mobility. for america to be number ten in upward mobility behind france, among other countries is like france being ahead of us in afternoon sex and croissants. >> what has gone wrong america incorporated? >> well, what's happened is that for many, many years now, we've seen the life of the middle class being much more precarious. then the financial crisis, since

2008, has really been a kind of mortal blow. and we have not been able to recover. with 25 million people either out of work or underemployed, people losing their homes, i have two daughters in college. they have so many friends who are graduating from college and cannot get jobs. and yet i think really, piers, what is the most disturbing thing is that the government, our leaders, are not bringing the required sense of urgency to this crisis. that is what is missing. remember in 2008 when weapon threatened with the collapse of wall street? suddenly all the establishment, financial, political, media, came together. and they basically threwering against the wall to save wall street. we never had that sense of urgency around jobs growth and the middle class. that's the point i'm making in the book. >> funny enough, when i saw all the attention given to hurricane irene, it was very interesting to me how you saw federal and

state officials, all coming together in a very public, dramatic, fast-moving way and getting stuff done. and regardless of whether you think it was overhyped or not, the bottom line is that speed and efficiency and collective will certainly saved lives. if they can all apply that same kind of dynamism and speed to the economy, you can't help thinking economy would be back on track. >> exactly. that's exactly the column i wrote today. the point i'm making, if we had the recognition that the jobs crisis has brought an enormous devastation in the lives of millions and we need to come together collectively, in our neighborhoods, our communities, at the local, state and federal level, and really solve it, everything would be postponed. let's start with the media. we in the media have a

responsibility. the fact is the media gave it wall to wall attention. it became like something wech we all gather to find out what was happening. it was really a shared intense experience. at the end of which we felt closer to each other. >> that's true. how much blame do you attach to president obama personally here? he came in on this huge wave of hope and audacity and change. and as many presidents discover when the economy is in a rough shape, it is very, very hard to give any hope, all-be it audacious or to change anything. >> there's no question he and his administration underestimated the jobs crisis. and they passed a stimulus bill which was not sufficiently targeted, which was not large enough. and after that they really expected the economy to recover. it didn't happen.

and now ironically, we have the president's chief economic adviser saying again and again, that growth is a higher priority than the deficit. the president made a serious mistake in accepting that the deficit has to be prioritized over jobs. if we don't solve the jobs crisis, if we don't grow the economy, we'll never be able to solve the deficit crisis. >> i like the line again from your book. you said we need to reorient our economy so it is more an engine for production and productivity. not a vehicle for gambling and speculation. that is really the heart of the problem. the great america that we're all used to, the number one super power for so long, was built around the basis of aspirational people building things and selling them to the world and domestically. but creating and building and driving, energizing. now it just doesn't seem to be there as the thought of america.

we went from a country that makes thing to a country that makes things up. all these financial instruments which make it very easy to make a lot of money very quickly. and that is really the worst part. if you failed, if you were too big to fail, then government, the taxpayer will pick up the tab. i think that's really what has led to so much anger in this country, piers. in a way, the creation of the tea party for me stems from the bailout. not that we should have bailed out the bank but we should have done with it string attached. so they would have turned around and lent to small businesses to create jobs. that's what didn't happen. there is this fundamental unfairness which has led to an enormous amount of anger and mistrust at government at all levels. >> it does seem extraordinary these bankers on the ropes, lehman brothers went under.

all these huge companies and banks all on perilous states. many of them bailed out by the taxpayers, by the american public, and the moment they're back on their feet, what do they do? they fill their troughs again, reengage in the same kind of greedy bonus grabbing behavior that got america into trouble in the first place. >> and that sentiment is not a right or left sentiment. what i'm finding as i travel around, whether you're a republican or a democrat, there is that sense that there is something wrong with the system. and that if you take risks that have not worked out, according to any kind of code of capital i, you then pay the price. instead, the taxpayer, even now despite all the financial reform, the taxpayer in the end would be on the hook for any big company, big bank that fails

because of excessive risk. and that's what has to be changed. in the end, if we lose trust in the ability to act collectively, the ability of government to act collectively, we will never be able to attempt anything really big. that spirit of barn raising. the spirit of coming together and sending a man to the man or doing any of the great things america has done is now really missing. >> i think it has come to a pretty desperate state of affairs when the great aspiration of america right now is how to avoid being $15 trillion in debt. that's where we're faced. if we don't hit $15 trillion, that's a great result. what it needs, like you say, is the big ideas. that's what we need. every one is waiting for the big idea. what is it? >> and what is actually ironic is that the big ideas are now small ideas at the community level. that's why there is a call for optimism. the last section of my book is

actually an optimistic section. i've seen an incredible amount of creativity, compassion and ingenuity at the local level. and ever since the merger, an initiative where 857 pounds, 30 to 40,000 people. we launched a whole project that we are calling dispatches changing the american dream. it is quite amazing to get all the stories every day from around the country. what people are doing in their own neighborhoods. people who have lost jobs, who are creating a their own jobs, turning their honor sbis jobs, helping each other and make ends meet. supporting people in need. and at the local level, there is trust, a sense of empowerment and a sense that we can overcome adversity. at the national level, that is really missing. that's where the failure is. that's where my fear comes about us becoming a third world

country if we don't course correct. >> i totally agree. we saw with it the storm, the hurricane. the way local people came together, helping each other to deal with what happened. to rebuild afterwards. that is the real american way. that's the american spirit of work and they need inspiration. we'll have a little break. when we come back, i want to talk to you about the battle for the heart and soul of the republican party. who or what kind of person is going to take on barack obama? [ female announcer ] what if your natural beauty could be flawless too? discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers

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barack obama is was not-term president. it is important for me to come bring my positive message for my candidacy. my focus is to turn the economy around. i know how to do that and to create millions of high paying jobs in the private sector. >> that was michele bachmann

blasting barack obama and talking jobs. i don't want to ryan your day but she is number 22 on the forbes list. so she is nine places more powerful than you. >> at least. >> what do you think about that? >> at least. she can create millions of good paying jobs, too. >> do you think she will do that? >> that's the paradox. that every serious contender for the republican nomination is promising to create jobs. and yet they're not telling us how they'll create jobs. everybody recognizes that we're probably going to go into the election in 2012 with around 8.5, 9, maybe even 9.5% unemployment.

that's really where he is most vulnerable. everybody is talking about jobs. but i would love to know how they're going to create jobs without some big infrastructure projects. without a pay roll tax holiday. without all the things they're now rejecting. >> is there anyway any of these republicans can creditably create a business model for america driving forward that doesn't involve some kind of increased revenue from extra taxation? >> well, both that, both the increased revenue from extra taxation and also, how can we do that? how can we create jobs without generating demand? if at the moment private demand has basically evaporated because consumers don't have the resources to go up and spend in a by a would create jobs. if corporations are sitting on billions of dollars and not investing it, if banks are not

helpeding, how are we going to break this vicious cycle without government stepping in to do things we actually need. even with employment, we would need some really substantial infrastructure projects. because our bridges, our roads, are crumbling. we are literally a third world country when it come to many areas of our infrastructure. so this is a huge opportunity to create the kind of private-public partnership to rebuild the country. and in the process to create jobs. there are so many people in construction industries who can't get a job at the moment. >> and in your book, you rightly focus on other countries like china and india. i went to shanghai and spent a couple weeks there, the rest of china, too, whatever it is, 1.3 billion people. at least half of whom are going to be entering the millionaire world within the next 5 to ten years. you're going to have an explosion of very, very wealthy people who will want to travel. who will want to be aggressive in business.

who will want to come after american business interests. what the chinese love to do is dominate in business. they're not interested in militarily invading countries or any kind of imperialism in that sense. they want to be top dogs in business. and they'll come. i don't see that america is ready for that challenge. businesswise. economically. >> and yet we still have some huge advantages. first of all, i would not really bet ultimately on any country that sensors google. they have to come to terms with the fact that they cannot try to prevent these explosions happening online and the connectivity that brings people together around the world. and also, you know, we are still the country where apple came to life. and you go abroad. you go to china, you go anywhere. they still look at america as the country that brought them apple. and the iphone and the ipad.

they may not be manufactured in this country but they were created in this country. >> isn't apple a perfect example of what more american entrepreneurs and businessmen should be doing? there's steve jobs. he's a genius. he has these amazing ideas. he gets a brilliant design team around him. he has as jack welsh points out, a brilliant system of delivery for his products. he gets it out there. fast and efficiently. and he sells it rauxd you go to china or india or europe. there are apples products, piled high. beautiful quality, incredibly reliable and they're available to all, selling like hot cakes and he is a brilliant marketeer, too. that kind of thing that america needs so much more of. identifying products to the whole world. >> it is happening in small ways. i've met so many start-up entrepreneurs all around the country. it is much harder for them to make it work now. but it is still happening. that's for me, the hope for the

future. as a greek, as a naturalized american, as a double dose of optimism. so i don't want to leave our viewers depressed. that sense of ingenuity. that entrepreneurial spirit is very much alive. what we need to do is to overcome the dysfunctional nature of our government at the moment that is really getting in the way of acknowledging, at this moment, we need help to actually make the private sector work. it doesn't mean the government is going to do it. just to be the catalyst during a difficult time as it has been during other difficult times. other times of hurricanes and earthquakes, wars, economic crisis. and then, you know, that's the boost that we need. >> do you know steve jobs personally? >> no, i don't. i've seen him speak and met him at conferences like all things recently, when he had a conversation with bill gates.

it was quite iconic to see them come together. such admiration, not just for what he's done but for the way he handled that dreadful moment in his own life. the moment of stepping down. >> yeah. as you, someone who has laid this incredible business yourself, the "huffington post." could you ever imagine that moment of giving up the reins to it? >> i can imagine the moment is much harder to contemplate that moment because of premature reasons. like ill health that he has unfortunately had to suffer. it was all done with so much grace and so much dignity. and i felt, really coming together, supporting him during that moment. >> let's take a short break.

when we come back, we'll talk about your family. what it was like for you when you first came to america and how it is all going aol. i suspect very well for you. [ male announcer ] life is full of missed opportunities. like the exotic vacation you never took. but there's one opportunity that's too good to miss. the lexus golden opportunity sales event. see your lexus dealer. the lexusso i takepportunity one a day men's 50+ advantage. as a manager, my team counts on me to stay focused. it's the only complete multivitamin with ginkgo to support memory and concentration. plus it supports heart health. [ bat cracks ] that's a hit. one a day men's.

i have to say i agree with arianna. i think it is actually quite harmful. >> when did you say that? >> i just did.

>> oh, good morning i'm sorry. maybe it sounds like you're talking with a mouthful of syrup. i just didn't get it. >> hey [ bleep ]! >> he mix with it arianna huffington. that was featuring my tough talking guest. you don't take any nonsense, do you? >> not from dogs. >> arianna, take me back to when you first came to america from greece. what was your first impression? >> i came when i was 16 as part of a program called experiment for international living. i went to new york, pennsylvania, and you stay with different families will i stayed with four different families. that was my first experience with america. it was definitely love at first sight. then i took this detour and went to england and started at cambridge and fell in love and spent seven years with an

amazing man who wouldn't marry me, piers. >> what was he thinking? >> yes, i know. he was twice my age and half my size. >> you said that he was the great love of your life. he was a completely brilliant man. >> he was. >> do you wish things had been different? do you wish that he had wanted to get married and had children? >> not anymore. because my whole life would have been entirely different. i wouldn't have my two daughters whom i adore. and i wouldn't have created the "huffington post." i think the levin post or the post with my maiden name would not have been as successful. so everything happens for a reason. ever since i was a little girl, and actually i write in the book about that. walking to school and passing by president truman's statue. a statue that grateful greeks

that erected because of the marshall plan that had really saved europe. there was a sense around me that america was the country where your dreams would come true. there was nobody who didn't have a family member or a friend who had moved to america in search of a better life. and so that was really my dream. in 1980 i moved here. i could never imagine after that, living anywhere else. >> it's an amazing country, america. and i think the frustration that so many of us who are not americans but have this great love and affection for america and americans, you're willing for something to happen which reenergizes and reinstills the confidence in this great country. that's what i feel. everybody is there, ready to be led. the problem is, they're not getting the right kind of leadership from anybody. >> again, i have a feeling that

maybe when we look back, you know, a few years from now, we'll realize that there was something else that needed to happen. this was for us to stop waiting to be led. that's what is needed right now. not wait for someone else to do it. but to really do it ourselves. >> you did this amazing deal last time you came on the show. we talked about the aol deal. a very neat $350 million, i think, congratulations again. since then of an ol has been struggling. the stock price has fallen about 40%. what's going on there? >> well, we are actually doing amazing things. as you probably know, the "huffington post" traffic has grown dramatically. we've expanded both domestically and internationally. we've launched in the uk and canada, we'll be launching in france. we've launched multiple sites.

we're about to launch high school, weddings. so basically the idea is to be able to offer our readers a bit of everything. from politics, to books to entertainment, style, divorce, everything. and the merger with aol has given me and my team at the "huffington post" the opportunity to really have the resources to expand along all the different paths. video, international, domestic, this amazing that i mentioned earlier. >> are you paying any of these journalists? you get most people to write for you for nothing. >> we have over 1,300 journalists at the moment on pay roll. and we still have other -- >> what? >> over 1,300. how do you feel about that? do you feel uneasy paying people? >> i'm loving it. because at the same time, we

have this great platform. we're a journalistic enterprise and a platform. and the platform has over 9,000 bloggers with their own passwords. plus thousands of people from all walks of life who send us posts on everything that they care about. >> do you ever look in the mirror, arianna, and think i vnlt done badly for a young lady from greece. >> i haven't look in the mirror and think, i'm always in the end going to be a greek peasant girl at heart. and i like to keep that. the thing that gives never greatest joy, and i'm so glad you'll be a father again, piers, my two daughters whom i took back to college yesterday. and that above all is the greatest joy of my life. >> well, you're a remarkable woman. if i had my way, you would be way further up this list, arianna. i'll have a word with forbes to get you into the top ten next year.

i'm a big fan of yours and your sites and it has been a pleasure talking to you. coming up next, the first time governor turning the world upside down. wisconsin's scott walker. [ artis brown ] america is facing some tough challenges right now. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. with vitamins and minerals balanced to support your energy... ♪ ...and healthy skin. everyday benefits from advanced formulas. discover the complete benefits

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he's lost no time making a splash. his budget showdown with union workers led to headlines across the country. not all of them entirely favorable. governor walker, welcome. so you don't believe -- you get in to power as the new governor. were you even though you knew it would be provocative with the scale of protests coming your way. >> absolutely. and by the national attention. i knew for eight years before i was the governor. i was a county executive in a county that has never elected a republican. i had no idea the kind of national focus, the national money that came in. that's probably more the part that surprised me will. >> knowing what you know now, would you have played things differently? >> i think in january and february, i would have spent more time building a case for specifically what we were going to do. i talked about it in the campaign. i talked about it for eight years when i was a county official about the need to change things, to make sure we could avoid layoffs. in the end, i had no idea. in about a month's time, the

first month they dropped $4 or $5 million in tv ads, not on a candidate but specifically against me and this issue. i would have better prepared for that had i 20/20 vision. >> the reputation you built up with the fury is that you hate unions. >> that's not true at all. for me, i tried to work with the public unions. i work for years with the public unions. more so, the private sector unions. many have been partners of mine in terms of creating a partners. i look at the fact with eight years of experience, i looked at a number of them and said if we don't make a change, if we don't empower local governments, we'll be stuck with the mess we see in washington, d.c. and i don't want to hand that off to my two kids or the next generation of voters. >> was there ever a moment in all that, when you look in the mirror and thought, scott, i could be the shortest term governor in the history of wisconsin here. >> you know, throughout it, i didn't think that. since then, i take very

seriously the claims, you look at the $20, $30, $40 millions that were spend on the recalls. a recall after january could be very real. in the midst of it all, no am i came in more or less with the mindset of a small business owner. identify a problem, identify a solution and do something about it. >> what's your message to the unions? they'll be watching this with interest and they'll still be under the assumption that you have it in for them. what is your message? >> my message would be more for the workers of the state. you look at, mitch daniels did something like this in indiana. not only did the state get better and more effective. great workers. they're able to earn more. you will see it at the schools and the local government. the state government. that our best and brightest will be the first ones keeping the classroom. the first one we keep on the job. that hasn't happened in the past. a lot of times, seniority and tenure forced out the best and the bright nest staffing. we're able to change that. we're able to pay for performance and do things all

the time that happen flift sector. >> we followed you along. we went with you to a school in wisconsin and i want to show a bit of footage of what happened. basically, this is you on your way to a local school. the calm before the storm, we call this. when we got there -- there were the obligatory protesters that doug everywhere you go. when you turn up and you see this kind of thing, what goes through your mind? >> in this case it was an extreme. these folks were so adamant about it. they literally went and glued the doors, the locks on the doors of the school shut causing obviously great damage to the school itself. i'm a big boirk i can handle protesters. that's what's great about america. people can protest. in the end causing damage. i had something like this earlier this past month where they shouted us down at the opening of the state fair. again, protest me, you can boo me, do you know whatever you want. for all those young people who came to be a pampt fair or for

the functions, there is a place for civil discourse. people can express their displeasure. moments like we saw there and earlier this year, i think more than anything they come at certain hot spots. we come to the city of milwaukee or madison. elsewhere around state. >> have you had death sflets. >> yes. >> any of them taken seriously? >> i take them all seriously. we have the state patrol for me and my family. death threats against me, my kids, my wife, my parents, my father-in-law. >> pretty unsettling. >> yeah. i can handle those things. when it crosses the line and starts involving families and people's homes. a lawmaker i talked to from jansville who used to be a part of uaw at gm. he made an interesting point in all this when people were coming to lawmakers' homes. when i said they used to have strikes or protests, they would do it at the plant. they would never dream of going

to the manager's house. that crossed the line. as the number of protesters increased in the spring, people came from other states, illinois, nevada, washington, d.c. >> have you had them turn up at your houses? >> sure. there were thousands of people in front of my home. >> anyone making proper threats? >> no those cases, most of the threats were without names or numbers attached. you did have at the end in the height of the debate someone who made a threat about put -- they found that person and as you might expect, the individual was mentally unstable. >> is what you've been through indicative of public discourse in america? is that a great shame to you? has it become too verse ral? too personal? >> yes. i think it has. i think it is one of the things i prided myself. i didn't personalize my differences. someone who was may opponent one day on a party line issue, a

week later on some other issue might be my ally because i didn't personalize it. you don't see it with some of these protesters. i think that is not indicative, at least in wisconsin, that you can still be passionate, have a disagreement and move. on for years we've been a very politically divided state. we were the closest blue state in 2000, 200 found. so there are very different demographics. we haven't had this kind of discourse and i hope we can get past that. i think much of it came when the money and influence came outside wisconsin. >> we'll talk to you about the white house. who doubt should be the next occupant? whether that list would include scott walker? ♪ with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced. i don't always have time to eat like i should. and the more i focus on everything else, the less time i have to take care of me. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs

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and that 15,000 dryer fires happen every year! that's why it's important to regularly clean and inspect your vents! correct. where did you get that?! i built it. [ male announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers ♪ bum, ba-da-bum, bum, bum, bum ♪ part of it is for employers like this to get government out of the way. stop being a barrier. make the regulatory process, overall, the tax burden less. things like that help put people to work. >> governor walker, you see those running for the republican nomination. it is gripping the nation. where do you think the clever money should be going?

>> i have a bias toward governors. i think chief executive, a mayor, ultimately all the way to president. i think that is a proven theory over time. certainly that gives me a bias toward governor romney and governor perry. >> they are both governors. they are also very, very different. >> they are. remember james carville in '92 said it's the economy, stupid. that's so true going into 2012. governor romney, i think his experience when it come to jobs is more in the private sector. whether it is turning businesses around, governor perry, more as the governor. and i think i know rick the best, having served with him, worked with him. he mentioned chris christie who said don't blink. you're going to be at the height of your time to get things done. we took to heart. i look at what rick has done in texas. what they've done with the economy. if i was him, if i'm running for president and i'm rick perry from texas, i would talk about the xhifl you asked me my

mother's maiden name? i say look what we did with the economy in texas. >> the argument back at that is that it is easier in a state like texas. than it is in many other states. would you accept that? >> i look at the last two years, an example of a smaller percentage of the economy than a decade ago. it is not just because of natural resources and things like that. in every case, there is exceptions and nuances that i think overall, if you look at even in the last couple years, texas having led the way, new ways almost greater than the rest of us combined. if you can apply that toward putting more people to work in our country, i know in wisconsin, we're much better off in the national unemployment rate. certainly at 7.6, 7.8% unemployment, that is unacceptably high. >> and at a time when the national figure is slightly dropped, yours went up. so that gives you an illustration of how tough this is. jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. it is all very well for people to repeat that mantra.

the key question is how do you get americans back to work? what do you the answer is? clearly you're struggling a little in wisconsin. the best answer is something i learned 30 years ago watching president reagan. you put more money back in the hands of the american people. consumers, restore consumer confidence. more money back in the hands of entrepreneurs. >> tax cuts? >> absolutely. we have the second largest corporate tax rate in the free world right now. we put too much money into so-called stimulus about bailing out state and local governments that. deferred the deadline to come back and make tough decisions. that's been one of the catastrophic failures we've seen in the federal government is the fact they spent all that money, they put us further into debt. they created uncertainty. that's the number one issue i hear from employers is uncertainty. the uncertainty of the healthcare plan and now the economy. >> i guess forget the detailses you're trying to work out a plan to stimulate confidence in the economy. >> absolutely.

>> what is gone is confidence. without the confidence, people won't do anything. they don't spend, they don't invest, they don't build. nothing happens. so the debate becomes, how do you get america in business terms confident again? >> right. because i believe more fundamental than just the debt is the economy. and if you don't fix that, everything else will continue to unravel. we have a demand problem. we have not enough consumer confidence. we have not enough people in buying and purchasing and seeking us to make things. if we don't correct that, you can cut all you want. you can raise taxes all you want. but you just continue down that spiral at least from my belief. and i think over time whether it was president kennedy back in the 60s, president reagan in the 80s or whoever the next great leader is going to be here in this generation and beyond, we're got to change the demand and improve the economy. >> when it comes to the selection for republican nominee, you've cited romney and perry. could you see a situation where they come as a double header regardless of which way around? in other words, a moderate and a tea party candidate coming

together may well be the best force the republicans have against president obama. >> i think you're right about that. i think if you look, the strengths that each of them have both in the private sector and the public service is their focus on the economy. to me the best advice i could give either of themmers together if they were on a ticket is, make that your sole focus. everything else is a side show. in the end if you don't fix the economy, it doesn't matter wall street or main street, it matters you or my street. if you don't fix that with the economy it doesn't work. >> if i held a metaphor cal gun to your head and said, who should be top dog and who's the running mate? >> you know, right now it's too early. i'll tell you again. >> my guess would be rick perry for you. >> i like him a lot. but i think mitt romney's got a lot to the table as well. but i've worked probably closer to rick perry. i think part of it time will tell if he can give live up to the challenge. he's been in it a couple of weeks. >> he's certainly energized the whole debate, way ahead in the polls now.

>> it's the real deal. the only alternative to me would have been paul ryan if he got. in i think paul brings that same sort of patient, same sort of focus, same sort of intensity. in rick's case even more so on the economy. but i think you're right. if romney and perry were both on the ticket it would be spectacular because they could focus on the economy. that's what matters. >> come back after the break and find out who your wife thinks should be the next president and also about your love of harley davidsons. >> i love them. >> nothing like the sound of a harley. [ female ] we will always be dependent on foreign oil.

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scott wrote me a note and proposed to me at the bar. we were sitting right there at the bar. he'd be a great president.

so there we have it from the -- i won't say the horse's mouth. no way to describe your wife. your wife saying that you would make a great president. what were your thoughts when you heard her say that? >> well, i was amazed. i mean, obviously she's been very supportive of me. she was a big advocate for paul ryan to get in, too. but who knows? god only knows what the future holds. but for right now it's certainly not going to happen in 2012. >> but that's not a no, then. you're clearly flirting with the idea. >> i got a lot to do in wisconsin. we have a goal 250,000 jobs. nothing else matters right now. >> you're a big fan of harley davidson. >> i am indeed. >> what does it make you feel? >> total freedom. >> you cover thousands of miles on these things. >> i go out for the last seven years. every summer we go out about 2,000 miles at one time over a period of a couple days. beautiful scenery. you get away from it all. in our case god's country in wisconsin.

>> you're the son of a preacher man. >> it's a good song. >> there was one, wasn't there? can't start singing but anyway -- your father, tell me the kind of values that he instilled in you. >> really from both my parents. my dad was a minister, but certainly not only in terms of faith was passed on from him and my mother. small town values, being involved in the community, supporting your neighbors. my mother as much as anything is a saint and taught us to be selfless in our interest of helping others as well. i learned a lot of things from them. >> when you get a good kicking from the protestors, does your mother worry about you? does she ring you up and say calm down things a bit. >> even after the episode you aired earlier? my kids have now taught her how to use the internet and texting and all that. my parents' names are lou and pat. she loves to send these little notes and texting saying l and p from l and p. love and prayers from lou and pat. still a mother today in her 70s.